Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL) Short Interest Up 37.9% in January

Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 686,900 shares, an increase of 37.9% from the December 31st total of 498,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 224,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Abacus Life Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:ABL opened at $7.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $668.13 million, a P/E ratio of -43.83 and a beta of 0.14. Abacus Life has a 1-year low of $6.75 and a 1-year high of $13.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $28.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.08 million. Abacus Life had a negative net margin of 11.65% and a positive return on equity of 12.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abacus Life will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Adam Samuel Gusky acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.72 per share, with a total value of $54,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 59,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,136.20. This represents a 13.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sean Mcnealy sold 75,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $606,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,361,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,892,000. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 36,367 shares of company stock valued at $279,626 and sold 2,263,300 shares valued at $18,106,400. 79.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abacus Life

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Abacus Life during the second quarter valued at $106,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abacus Life during the fourth quarter valued at $110,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Abacus Life by 27.8% during the third quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 38,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 8,454 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Abacus Life during the second quarter valued at $418,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abacus Life during the third quarter valued at $614,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Abacus Life in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Abacus Life to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Abacus Life from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Northland Securities began coverage on shares of Abacus Life in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $13.50 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.30.

Abacus Life Company Profile

Abacus Life, Inc operates as an alternative asset manager specializing in life insurance products. It purchases life insurance policies from consumers seeking liquidity and manages policies over time via trading, holding, and/or servicing. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Orlando, Florida.